


Names and Song

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Bonding, Community: rotg_kink, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Marks, Púca | Pooka, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-01
Updated: 2013-02-01
Packaged: 2017-11-27 18:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/665290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the <a href="http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2200.html?thread=3177112">RotG Kink Prompt</a>: Heartsong and Marking. </p><p>Humans have the name of their intended on the inside of their left wrist, while Pooka hear it in their heartsongs. It doesn't mean you always find who you're looking for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Names and Song

"Jack? Your band is black-?" North's surprised voice stopped Bunnymund's paw from knocking on the partially open door, his heart thumping loudly in his chest at the words. He moved to the side, plastering himself along the side of the entryway, ears perked to catch Jack's response. 

Phil had sent him to inform their two Winter Guardians that dinner was ready, but this was more important. 

"Oh, that." Bunnymund leaned forward, just enough to peek through the door. Jack had his back to the door, perched on the back of a chair to peer over North's shoulder. His hoodie sleeves were pushed up to the elbows, showing off the pale skin of his forearms. 

There was a thick black band on his left arm, a couple inches above his wrist, covering the name written there. The placement was unusually high, Names were usually closer to the wrist, and this was the first time Bunnymund had been able to see if Jack had a Name there or not. It varied from culture to culture if the humans displayed the name of their Name-Mates or not, but there was generally only one meaning for a black band covering it. 

Their Name-Mate was Dead. 

North reached out, running gentle fingers over the band. "Then they are-?"

Jack laughed, the generally musical sound coming across strained as he pulled his arm away. It was a slight movement, but North caught the hint, letting his hand drop. "Dunno." Jack said with a careless shrug. "Doesn't matter."

It was a lie, Bunnymund could feel the old ache behind it. It mattered. It mattered a lot, to both of them. 

Bunnymund tapped the wall behind him, opening a tunnel into the next room and stepped through, hiding from sight behind the glowing Christmas tree. He could see Jack in profile now, the strained smirk on his lips. 

Pooka didn't have Name-Mates like Humans. They had their Heartsongs instead. 

Once, their Songs had filled the galaxy, a joyous harmonic symphony filled with light and life. Then Pitch had happened, the Pookas songs disappeared. Some faded away, while others had been abruptly cut off, until the only one was Bunnymund's. 

It had been silent for millenniums, until a second song had joined his several centuries ago. Faint at first, then louder, growing in strength, always jubilant. He'd searched, but it was one thing to hear a song, and another to recognise the singer. 

Then one day it suddenly cut off, sending him in a panic. It had started up again half a day later, but it was different. Still joyful, but now with undertones of sadness and loneliness that hadn't been there before, tones that matched his own, resonating and blending with his, the way a mate's would. 

When the first century had passed and the Song was still strong, he realised that it wasn't one of the billions of humans on the planet, but a spirit, which helped to narrow it down, but not by much. Most spirits hid away, either dealing with their own small clans or no one at all. Bunnymund still visited as many as he could, but he never found the other singer, the feeling of isolation and loneliness gnawing away at him. 

Until last year, when he'd stopped by the Workshop to talk to North and heard the singer of the other Song with his ears instead of his heart, the notes resonating inside of him, warming him as if he’d suddenly stepped into a warm patch of sunlight. 

He'd found Jack, laying on his stomach as he sang 'Silent Night' with some Elves, who were ringing the bells on the tops of their heads in time to the music. Jack’s voice was slightly off-key as he quietly sang, but all the more beautiful for the emotion contained in it, the feeling of peace and solitude. 

Then Jack had decreed the song was too slow and tickled the elves bellies, making them laugh as he started up on 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas', joy temporarily eclipsing the loneliness as Jack picked various Elves up and danced with them around the room, eyes sparkling with joy and mirth. 

It was the first and only time he'd ever heard Jack sing. Jack had spotted him during the second verse and stopped singing in favour of bantering with Bunnymund, the questions on Bunnymund's tongue dying away as he playfully snarled and snapped at Jack, their usual method of communication. They were friends, but their rough introduction from the Blizzard of ‘68 never quite left their interactions. 

Later, when he'd had time to think and to process, he was grateful that he hadn't burst in and started making proclamations. There was nothing that indicated Jack had any inkling of his song and he'd never heard a human's Heartsong before. There was also no proof that the name on his arm was Bunnymund's, or even if he did have a name there. One sided bonds had happened before. 

By El-ahrairah’s Balls, they were completely different species from other planets. He wasn’t even sure if that had ever happened before either. 

So he'd been trying to uncover the name on Jack's arm ever since, to no avail. 

"-It is blank?" North said, his voice torn between consoling and questioning. Some humans had a stigma against those who had no Name-mate. 

Jack laughed again, this time a short huff of dry amusement. "No." He shook his head. "It's not blank."

North looked confused. "Then why would it not matter?" His own Name-mate's name was worn proudly on his arms, decorated with his tattoos. 

"Because it's not written in any language recognised on Earth." Jack said, pale fingers plucking at the band, but didn’t remove it. "I believe me, I've _looked_." The ache in his words made Bunnymund's throat feel tight. 

"Not on Earth, eh?" North stroked his beard, a thoughtful look on his face barely masking the twinkle in his eye. "Have you tried asking Bunny? He was scholar. He knows many languages, many not from this planet." 

Jack snorted. "Yeah." He said, voice as dry as an Arctic field. "Tried that a couple of times." 

Bunnymund stared in shock. Jack had? When?! He certainly didn't know about this! 

When no further answer was forthcoming, North nudged Jack. "And-?" 

"It... Didn't go so well." Jack rubbed the back of his neck, expression twisted up in a grimace. 

"Ooh?" North leaned back in his chair, gesturing for Jack to continue. 

Jack sighed, making an annoyed face as he shifted, settling his staff against his shoulder. "The first time was decades before I was a Guardian. There's a couple of symbols on it that look kind of like eggs-”

Bunnymund’s breath caught in his throat. The Pooka alphabet was highly geometrical, frequently using circles and curves in among the straight and angled lines. But Bunnymund had always been more fond of ovals than circles, writing his letters with the circles looking like eggs, even before he’d come to this planet. 

His limbs twitched, itching to leap out and look for himself, but Jack was still talking and he forced himself to keep still. There was a time for everything, and everything in its time. Including explanations.

“-I figured who better to ask than the Easter Bunny, right?” Jack said, waving his free arm to emphasize his words. “But he only comes out once a year, and I've got no way of tracking where he is. Believe me, I tried catching him for _years_. So I figure I've got to get his attention." 

He flicked a finger at his staff, a few small snowflakes drifting off and melting before they hit the ground. "Only I kind of went overboard." He said ruefully. 

"Oh, no." North rubbed his forehead. "The 'Blizzard of '68'-?" He questioned, sounding like he already knew what the answer was and was wishing he didn’t.

"You got it." Jack clicked his tongue, pointing finger at North as if it were a gun. "Enter one very large, very pissed off Pooka, who shoves me against a tree and chews me out for ruining Easter. The accent by the way? Total surprise." 

"I can imagine." North said, tone weary. 

"Oh, yeah." Jack nodded. "So I’m standing there choking on my tongue and staring into the most vibrant set of green eyes I’ve ever seen, and as promptly as he showed up, he's gone. First person I've had contact with in 250 years. No time to chat, holiday to save and all that. Gone." 

Bunnymund resisted the urge to hit his head against the nice solid wall behind him. Bloody hell. He'd buggered that right up, hadn't he? 

North groaned. "Bunny... does not always give... the _best_ first impression." He rumbled and Bunnymund flinched slightly, remembering their own introductions. He'd never met anyone who could piss him off quite as quickly as North. 

-At least not until he'd met Jack Frost. 

"That was when I started wearing this." Jack held up his left arm, showing off the black band. "I can't read it, humans couldn't see me, and other spirits were too busy to give me the time of day. I was **done**." 

Bunnymund remembered, it was just after that horrible Easter that the Heartsong had changed, the loneliness growing sharper. He’d thought it a reflection of his own isolation, his own temper becoming shorter, tongue harsher. His Heartmate was hurting, and he couldn’t bloody well _find them_!

North held up a finger, a crafty glint in his eye. "Ah, but you said that you tried a couple of times!" 

"Yeah. Tried again a couple of years after I became a Guardian. For a while there I thought... I don’t know why... I thought that he might be... Never mind.” Jack shook his head, running a hand down his face before waving it off with a small, slightly bitter laugh. Bunnymund resisted the urge to scream at the sudden bout of self mocking. 

Jack had thought that Bunnymund might be his Name-Mate. And something had convinced him otherwise. 

“Turns out, that before I was... Chosen” - _died_ \- “I had to hide the mark then too. It was custom anyway, but my parents were particularly strict about it because my mark looks so strange. They didn’t want me taken away by Fairies or something.” Jack grinned, this time tinged with some real amusement. “After I found out that 'Pooka' meant 'Giant Bunnies from Outer Space', I tried again."

“And-?” North drawled, raising one eyebrow. 

“And nothing.” Jack shrugged, waving a dismissive hand. “Neither Sandy or Bunny have Names on their bodies.” 

“This is true, Names tend to be a Human trait.” North agreed, stroking his beard again. “But they do have other ways.”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “Kind of hard to talk to Sandy about it, kind of got the impression that he might actually reproduce asexually, like a starfish, but it turns out that Pooka _sing_.”

He remembered this. A while before he'd heard Jack sing, Jack had approached him about Name-Mates, and if he had any markings. Bunnymund had removed his bracers, letting Jack check for any markings on his arm other than his stripes. 

Jack had seemed sort of sad about his lack of Name, and Bunnymund had felt the urge to cheer him up, so he’d sung. A short song, just an old Pooka lullaby. The words had felt thick on his tongue after not having spoken it for so long, and he’d closed his eyes, remembering when he’d sung it so long ago. 

Imagining he was singing it to the mate of his Heartsong. 

When the song had faded away, he’d opened his eyes to find Jack staring at him with huge luminous ice-blue eyes, like he’d never seen Bunnymund before. Bunnymund had felt embarrassed for sharing too much. So he’d lightly cuffed Jack on the back of his head before retreating back to the comforting solitude of the Warren to nurse the old ache.

A note of longing had appeared in the Heartsong after that. 

“-I don’t know if you’ve ever heard Bunny sing, but he’s got an _amazing_ voice. It was beautiful.” Jack said, giving a little breathless awed laugh, his whole body lighting up. “Seriously, I had chills going down my spine listening to him. Me! Chills!” 

Resonated. Bunnymund's song had resonated in Jack. Bunnymund had been too caught up to notice, and Jack didn't know what it meant.

“Can’t say that I have.” North chuckled. “Did you return the favour? Did you sing for our Bunny?” He asked, a small smile growing on his face. 

Jack laughed, mockingly this time. “Nah, I couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket.” He said, slouching once more, waving it off as if his singing was a ludicrous idea. 

“You’d be surprised.” North said, twinkling eyes catching Bunnymund’s for a moment. “Especially if you sing from the **heart**.” 

…. The crafty old bastard. He knew, or at least suspected. And had set this up. 

This earned another laugh, Jack patting North on the shoulder. “Yeah, right.” He said, almost mocking. Jack hopped off the back of the chair, staff propped jauntily over one shoulder. “It’ll be a cold day in the Warren when Bunny tolerates my presence for more than banter.” 

The smile on Jack’s face said he was okay with that, but the sadness in his Song said otherwise. 

Bunnymund closed his eyes, tilting his head backwards until it hit the wall with a soft ‘thud’. 

“Anyway.” Jack put his hand over the band, hiding it. “That’s why it doesn’t matter. It’s probably someone on the other side of the galaxy or something, so I’m never going to find them.”

Wrong. Wrong in _so_ many ways. 

“-It’s gotta be around Dinner time.” Jack said, his voice heading towards the door. Bunnymund opened his eyes to see Jack pulling down his sleeves, hiding the black band again. “I’m gonna go pop down and see if it’s ready.” 

“Alright. Thank you, Jack.” North said, waving. Jack tossed a careless wave back, shutting the workshop door behind him. 

Bunnymund lifted his head and brought it back down on the wall with more force this time, then did it again. Thud. Thud. Thud. 

Both of their Heartsongs changed when Jack had joined the Guardians. Jack’s had lost most of the the loneliness, but still retained the sharp edge of loss. Bunnymund’s own song had changed, not so harsh, brighter. 

And he’d never put it together, the timing or the reasons for the changes. He’d had all the evidence he needed right there, and never noticed. 

Thud. Thud. Thud. 

“I think...” North rumbled, the floor creaking slightly as he rose to his feet. “You owe your mate an apology for making him wait so long.”

“Yeah.” Bunnymund agreed, opening an eye to peer at North. “How’dja figure it out?” He asked, hitting his head against the wall once more. 

“You are too close to see.” North waved a hand as Bunnymund stepped out from behind the tree, gesturing wildly. “The way the two of you dance in circles around each other. You, you smile more than I have known you! And it was not _me_ Jack used to make Jaime believe again. Since the beginning, Bunny! The _beginning_! I turn into an Old Man waiting for one of you to try!” He wailed. 

“And it turns out, one of us has been.” Bunnymund said, pointedly looking at the door where Jack had gone. 

North gave him a look, equal parts annoyance and affection. “Bunny...” 

“I didn’t know.” Bunnymund sighed, ears drooping. “Suspected a bit. But I swear ta ya North, I didn’t know.” Not for sure. 

“You are fool.” North growled without rancour, crossing his mammoth forearms across his chest. His old friend was clearly annoyed with him. 

“Yeah.” Bunnymund agreed, staring at the closed door again. 

“What are you doing to do now?” North asked, his tone softer. There was enough steel in his voice to let Bunnymund know that letting the status quo remain unchanged was **not** an option. 

It wasn’t in Bunnymund’s plans either. But he’d inadvertently rejected Jack twice now, getting Jack to believe Bunnymund’s sincerity was going to take some doing. Especially since that while they were friends, they weren’t exactly on _friendly_ terms either. 

Finding the other half of one’s Name or Song didn’t ensure happiness, much less affection, that was something they had to build together. And as much as Bunnymund wanted to grab Jack and wrap himself around him, he was going to have to prove himself a worthy mate. A _Trust_ worthy mate. 

“Court him.” He said, turning to look at North. “... With your permission.” He added with a tilt of his head. Jack did live with North most of the time after all. 

North snorted. “Granted.” He said, as if it were unthinkable that he would say anything else. 

Bunnymund’s lips twitched in response, trying to fight a smile as hope bubbled up inside of him, making him feel light and young again as his thoughts began to spin. He’d found his Heartsong! 

“Make your plans.” North chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder as he walked by, heading towards the door. “I will let the others know you will be late for supper.”

North paused next to the door, pointedly eyeing the stand that held several large scimitars and other assorted weaponry. “And Bunny?” He added with a twinkle in his eye. “Make them well. You are not so big that I cannot skin you for soup, _da_?”

“Got it.” Bunnymund nodded, eyeing the weapons. He’d probably be seeing a lot more of them until he and Jack had reached some sort of agreement and hopefully Jack moved to the Warren. 

Speaking of which, he’d need to make at least some place for Jack to feel welcome down there, he was always complaining about the heat when he visited, and it wasn’t as if there was vast amounts of snow in the Warren either.... 

So many things to plan, so much stuff to do, he hardly knew where to start!

-fin-

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Wow! .... Am up to over a dozen requests for a sequel for this. I don't know if it'll happen or not, since we don't currently have any plot bunnies for it, but if it does, it'll be after we clean some wips off our plate. Have a massive hug-fest I promised to try to finish by Valentines that's top priority. ^^;;
> 
> In the meantime, go check out [Listen to Your Heart](http://archiveofourown.org/works/669614) by [Kayasurin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayasurin/pseuds/Kayasurin) and [Sing, Sing, Sing](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1881399) by [Melissae](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Melissae/pseuds/Melissae). Same prompt, awesome fic! ^__^


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